This past international woman’s day has had me reflecting on events in my life. After almost a decade of my life, I was fired from a job where I was thriving and making ~6 figures. Thanks to my husband’s career that he spent years developing trust, building lasting relationships, and constantly continuing his knowledge, we can now afford for me to raise our son living a similar lifestyle. This was in part thanks to me, spending the beginning of our relationship climbing the corporate ladder to allow him the time to build a successful career. More importantly, this was our dedication to each other and our desire to see the other succeed!
When our world was turned upside down when I unexpectedly texted my husband “getting fired right now,” who would have known it really was a blessing in disguise. Since being fired, I have had the opportunity to spend quality time with my son, prepare wholesome nutritious and delicious meals for my family, maintain a household I’m happy to call home, volunteer within my community, and join an amazing company that I actually believe in and that is setting the bar for companies in North America!
I joined an AMAZING company that is changing the world! The more I learned about all the harmful ingredients in products I use every day; I fell in love with the mission of getting safer products into the hands of everyone. I was excited! This company was rated #1 in the beauty industry in 2019 (not just clean beauty, ALL beauty). The products have the performance and they are transparent in what they are doing as a company. As with most excitement, I zealously started sharing information with friends and family and immediately got discouraged. Overnight it was like I became a sleazy sales person. I didn’t know what I had done as to why I was receiving this type of response. All I was doing was sharing information that I had learned and was providing resources for people to learn on their own and make their own decisions.
It’s eye-opening because my husband is also in the business of helping others (via sales) and I’ll hear stories about friends and family who won’t return calls, not show up for a schedule meeting with a courtesy call, or simply not what to meet to even hear if he can help. I have since learned it’s hard to change someone’s mind that is set in their ways, doesn’t want to learn, or is simply afraid of what they’ll learn-so they don’t. There are tons of people who have naive thoughts like… “this won’t happen to me or my loved ones.” Well, perhaps I’m just slightly paranoid but when I have the choice to control things I can control, I take action!
I choose to go to the gynecologist every year vs. every 3 years because I want to monitor anything that could be cured early on.
I chose to purchase life insurance, because I want to protect my son and allow for grieving time for my husband without him having to worry about burying me and then going to work the next day.
I chose to join BeautyCounter vs. other cosmetic lines because I believe in their products but more so their mission, consistency, and transparency.
It’s enlightening for me to think I had to go through something so toxic to see the big picture. I’m thankful my wake-up call was financial stress instead of my health or my son’s. When my former company 1st began mistreating me I was 8 weeks pregnant. I knew that stress passes onto the baby and I was frightened that something was going to be terminally wrong or impact his growth in utero. I did everything I could think of to reduce my stress levels. I ramped up my yoga attendance, I increased my workouts, I started seeing three, yes three, different therapist. I ended up taking an un-paid leave of absence for a month because things were not improving at work. Months after our son was born my husband shared that he too was concerned for the health of our child, but didn’t want to add to my stress levels (which it would have), so thanks baby once again for taking the high road and wearing the stress burden yourself.
I share these stories because too many of us are scared! Scared to fail, scared to get hurt, scared to hurt someone else’s feelings, scared of pain, scared of the what if, scared to be vulnerable. Life is HARD, but without the difficulties and vulnerabilities how can we truly appreciate the wonders, miracles and enjoy happiness. As I look into the eyes of my son every morning, I cannot express the appreciation for the love, support, and partnership of my husband. Our partnership is just that, it ebbs and flows, and we adapt together regardless of what life throws at us. We are partnering through this life together, controlling the things we can control, and adjusting to things we can’t. I encourage you to do the same!
With sincere encouragement,
Sarah